Fall 2027 Fellowship Sponsorship, National Prison Project

The ACLU’s National Prison Project (NPP) invites rising third-year law students and recent law graduates to apply for sponsorship for an externally-funded fellowship such as Equal Justice Works, Justice Catalyst, or other public interest fellowships, to begin in the fall of 2027. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month. 

Founded in 1972, NPP is the only organization that litigates carceral conditions cases on a national level. NPP works to ensure that our nation’s prisons, jails, juvenile facilities, and immigration detention centers comply with the Constitution, domestic law, and international human rights principles. Through litigation, public education, and other forms of advocacy, we fight to ensure that conditions of confinement are consistent with health, safety, and human dignity; to center the humanity of incarcerated people, their families, and their communities; and to reverse the laws and policies that give the U.S. the highest incarceration rate in the world. Our priorities include improving health care in prisons, eliminating violence and maltreatment, ending solitary confinement, defending the First Amendment rights of incarcerated people, and increasing oversight and accountability in prisons, jails, ICE detention, and other places of detention. 

We will review applications on a rolling basis, and priority consideration will be given to those who submit applications by June 19, 2026. 

This position is part of a collective bargaining unit. It is represented by ACLU Staff United (ASU). 

Reporting to the Deputy Project Director, the Fellow will both work on existing cases and focus on their fellowship project to advance the body of law for incarcerated people. Our staff will work with candidates to develop their proposals to external funders for submission, helping tailor the proposal to address an important civil liberties issue for incarcerated people. Proposed projects often combine litigation and advocacy with community outreach and public education.  NPP has identified the following issues as priority project proposal topics, but we are open to hearing candidates’ alternative project ideas:    

• →Litigation and advocacy to move people with mental illness who have been found incompetent to stand trial out of jails. In our litigation against jails, all too often we find that those who are spending the longest periods of time in jail are people with serious mental illness who are either awaiting competency evaluation or have been found incompetent to stand trial. These people often cycle in and out of solitary confinement due to their poorly managed mental health care. This project would build on the work done by some ACLU affiliates in state and federal courts challenging the long-term incarceration of people in need of community mental health services through litigation, advocacy, and public education. 
• →Litigation and advocacy challenging the use of non-traditional structures (for example, office buildings, converted warehouses, tents, military barracks) to incarcerate and detain people. This could involve traditional conditions challenges and/or creative new ways to stop the retrofitting of some of these facilities (e.g. use of environmental or zoning laws). This fellowship project will work to support community campaigns that aim to stop the conversion of facilities not designed to lock up large numbers of human beings.  
• →Litigation and advocacy challenging carceral systems’ widespread and unregulated use of private transport companies to move incarcerated and detained people across the country and around the world. Every year, tens of thousands of people are packed into vans and buses operated by private companies hired to transport people who have been arrested, and in recent years, a pattern has emerged of people being abused, sexually assaulted, neglected, or dying while on multiple-day journeys across the country. According to a 2016 report, at that time corrections departments in 26 states relied upon private prisoner transport companies. Similarly, ICE is increasingly relying upon private aviation companies and third-party contractors to fly noncitizens across the United States between detention centers, and overseas on deportation and third-country removal flights. Immigrants report being shackled, including in restraints normally used only for people experiencing mental health crises, on flights lasting many hours. A 2023 Department of Homeland Security internal report raised concerns about using full-body restraints, known as the WRAP, or spit hoods, on immigrants who pose no safety risk to others, in part because of the number of deaths that have occurred when the WRAP was used by local law enforcement in arrests.   

• Conduct legal research and analysis and develop theories to support new litigation projects 
• Draft legal memoranda, pleadings, affidavits, motions, and briefs 
• Interview witnesses and potential clients, including incarcerated people 
• Monitor prison and jail systems’ compliance with existing settlement agreements 
• Participate in discovery and trial practice 
• Draft and edit public education and non-litigation advocacy materials 
• Provide support and assistance to ACLU affiliates and cooperating attorneys 
• Engage in public speaking and attend meetings and/or conferences as needed 
• Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned 

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU 
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives 
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts  

• J.D. or expected to receive a J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school by the spring of 2027. Please note that sponsorship is limited to people who qualify for externally funded fellowships: people who will graduate from law school in 2027, or in a qualifying bridge fellowship, or have recently completed a clerkship. The position is not open to actively practicing lawyers or people not enrolled in or recently graduated from law school.  
• Admission to the applicable state or D.C. Bar, or taking a bar exam no later than Summer 2027 
• Demonstrated past commitment to public interest law, civil liberties, and criminal justice issues 
• Prior experience or knowledge of mass incarceration (via work, educational studies, or lived experience) preferred but not required 
• Willingness to work closely with NPP during the funding application process 
• Excellent research, writing, and verbal communication skills 
• Demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal analysis and fact-finding 
• Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to work independently as well as within a team 
• Self-motivated with the ability to take initiative, manage a variety of tasks, and see projects through to completion 

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people. 

We know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and know that what we offer is essential not just their work, but to their overall well-being.  

At the ACLU, we offer a broad range of benefits, which include: 

• Time away to focus on the things that matter with a generous paid time-off policy 

• Focus on your well-being with comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, gender affirming care & fertility treatment) 

• Plan for your retirement with 401k plan and employer match 

• We support employee growth and development through annual professional development funds, internal professional development programs and workshops  

Accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change.  We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression, anti-ableism, and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us. 

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.    

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please email benefits.hrdept@aclu.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.